For about the 87th time, I am possibly changing my career plans.  Its not a definite yet (and won’t be for quite some time), its just an idea I’ve been playing around with and researching.

The idea? Veterinarian.

Pros:
-I am obssessed with animals.  Obsessed. 
-I cannot walk past a stray cat or kitten on the street without stopping and trying to scoop them up.  If I was a vet I feel like I would be more able to help them get their shots and find good homes.
-I think in general, animals are almost always better than people.
-This would most definitely be a job I would want to go to every day.
-Scrubs are incredibly comfortable.
-I could wear sneakers every day.
-I would get to wear a doctor coat and people would CALL ME DOCTOR. sweet!
-If I could somehow manage to get into Cornell I’d have my doctorate from an Ivy League school.
-As much as I hate to admit it, I’m not THAT far into my bachelor’s degree.  Going to school at night, part-time is not easy but it does give me the time to switch my focus.

Cons:
-Vet School is expensive.  Cornell’s DVM program would run me over $100,000 for 4-years of tuition alone.  That is not even including housing, food, books, etc.  There are/must be financial aid but I need to look into it.
-Vet school is HARD.  Four years of hard hard work. 
-There are only 28 DVM programs in the United States. 
-Vet schools are extremely selective, only about 2,100 students graduate each year with DVM degrees.
-It is harder to get into Vet school than it is Med school.  No lie.
-Vet schools primarily accept in-state residents.  New York’s only program is at Cornell which accepts 15-20% of applicants.
-I am not a science major.  It is possible to major in another area and still have my pre-req’s but I have a whole bunch of bio and chem classes to take.

So, that is where I’m at right now. 

This all started when I saw a teeny tiny orange and white kitten outside our train stop last week.  He was hiding under some cars in about the same spot as I found our black stray, Fred Hampton.  I kneeled down but the little guy was scared and ran away.  Of course I ran across the street to the corner deli and bought him a can of food but I could not stop thinking about the little guy.  Poor Andrew had to be “the bad guy” and tell me no, we cannot afford another cat nor do we have the room.  I didn’t even want to keep him!  I just wanted to get him healthy and off the street and foster him until I could find a good home.  Unfortunately I don’t have an extra $300 laying around.  (Plus if he has fleas or mites then we’re also subjecting out three cats to that as well, in a one-bedroom apartment its not easy to quarantine cats).  So it was just a whole big mess and I was thoroughly bummed out.  My mom jokingly made the veterinarian suggestion when I called her later to pout.  It just makes sense though… I have always loved animals to the point that my friends MAKE FUN of me. 

I wouldn’t just have to be a Vet in private practice either.  I could work with exotic animals or at the zoo.  There are SO many possibilites! 

I’m think I’m going to try and take Bio 101 next semester and see how I do.  If it goes well I’ll try and talk to the advisor in that dept and see what he thinks.  Hunter actually has a really excellent pre-health program which could work in my favor. 

In closing, this could be me: